Vocational education is back in vogue... at least when it comes to promoting Governor Schwarzenegger's education agenda.

This afternoon, the governor's administration announced additional dollars for career and vocational tech programs in California schools. The $52 million package will be contained in the 2007-2008 budget Schwarzenegger will formally introduce one week from today.

However, only $20 million of the amount will be ongoing funding-- in other words, year-to-year growth in career tech funding. That's not actual new education money-- rather, it's being earmarked for career tech from the K-12 education funding guaranteed by the voter-approved Proposition 98.

The remaining $32 million is a one-time deal... and comes from the $3 billion settlement of a lawsuit over the governor's K-12 education budget in years past.

The Schwarzenegger administration also announced a career tech "summit" to be held in March, to help schools get vocational education cash from Proposition 1D, the school bond approved by voters back in November.

While we await Friday's big inaugural event, it's worth remembering some of the more interesting (and sometimes amusing) quotes from previous inaugural speeches delivered by California governors in years gone by.

"We must not come here as Republicans or Democrats, or as the representatives of any political party, but as Californians." -- Gov. Frank Merriam, January 8, 1935

"No longer can we afford to stay on dead center, unresponsive and inert. I pledge a confident, pioneering leadership, ready to welcome growth, pursue its promise, and prepare for tomorrow." -- Gov. Pat Brown, January 5, 1959

"Let us always practice a rigid economy in the public disbursements, but with a generous embrace of whatever will tend to make wiser, better, and happier, the people." -- Gov. Leland Stanford, January 10, 1862

"We are America's future. This great, bold experiment on the Pacific is America's future." -- Gov. Gray Davis, January 4, 1999

"Education should not be confined to book learning, but should embrace good morals, unselfish citizenship, manual training, thrift and loyalty to national ideals." -- Gov. Friend Richardson, January 9, 1923

"For long after the rituals of inauguration fade from memory, each of us will be held accountable for the oath we take and the vision we offer." -- Gov. Pete Wilson, January 7, 1991

"This morning, I'm not going to give you a formalistic address. I just want to tell you what's on my mind." -- Gov. Jerry Brown, January 6, 1975

A new Field Poll out this morning shows a number of concerns among those who were surveyed about rising costs and actual access to health care.

One part of the poll (found online here later this morning) asks why folks believe health care costs are rising. The most popular reasons (with percentages of those who agree):

High profits made by drug companies and insurance companies: 65%
Waste, fraud, and inefficiencies in the current system: 60%
People not doing enough to stay healthy: 54%

Interestingly, only 28% of those surveyed said they think the high costs are because doctors and hospitals "make too much money."

Elsewhere, Field's survey finds 59% agree strongly that government should "guarantee that all Californians have access to affordable health care." Another 22% of respondents agree somewhat with that statement.

Of course, there are a lot of different ways that government could "guarantee" that there is "access." And that's where the big debate will begin in earnest in the next few days.

By this time next week, we will be inundated with news reports about how to mend the holes in California's health care system. But one part of that debate, in some ways, symbolizes just how hard it might be to find consensus on the issue in 2007.

That part of the debate centers on health insurance for every child living in California. A new report this morning from a national nonpartisan group called Children Now assigns what looks a lukewarm rating (B-) to the current state of health care for kids in the Golden State. The report, using data from a UCLA study published last year, concludes that 7% of all children in the state did not have health insurance in 2005, an improvement from 2001 (10%) but virtually unchanged since 2003.

The authors of the report argue that fully covering children would benefit California's overall economy, from fewer costly ER visits to lower costs for public health services.

But note that the paragraphs above refer only to children who live in California... and not to those who are legal residents. That distinction was the biggest sticking point in the children's health debate of 2006.

Depending on whose estimates you use, there are somewhere around 1 in 10 kids in California who are not legal residents. As a result, they are ineligible for most state-funded health care services. In 2006, a proposal from Governor Schwarzenegger to expand a pilot program in several California counties had to be removed from his budget proposal, because legislative Republicans refused to vote for any new spending that could go toward coverage for illegal immigrants.

And that opposition remains. "I don't think it's changed at all, from our caucus' perspective," said Assembly GOP Leader Mike Villines (R-Clovis) in an interview a couple of weeks ago.

Many legislative Democrats, however, remain determined to push forward with full coverage for all children, regardless of immigration status.

And because children's health care coverage has become entangled in issues technically outside the subject of health care, it's easy to see how the same thing could happen in the broader health care debate. For example, the economic impact to the business community of some sort of employer-mandated health insurance isn't about health care per se... but the issue could easily derail health care negotiations at the Capitol in the coming weeks and months.

With all of this in mind, listen very closely next week-- not only to what the governor says about health care reform in his State of the State speech... but also for what kinds of reactions he gets from legislators and powerful interest groups.